


by the burning midnight oil

by Lobo_Loca



Series: Octopath drabbles [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, No Plot, No Spoilers, Post-Endgame, surprisingly enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-23 23:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15617361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lobo_Loca/pseuds/Lobo_Loca
Summary: Therion pays a visit to Atlasdam to clarify Cyrus's latest book request, and finds him asleep at the library.





	by the burning midnight oil

Attempting to find Cyrus in the wee hours of the morning may not be Therion’s best plan.

To be fair, the original plan was to find Cyrus after a quick stop for lunch and finding a room at the inn. A great plan in its simplicity. Foiled only by a bustling street faire, Therion’s attraction to shiny and interesting things that don’t belong to him, and a mild food coma.

But better late than never. It’s not like Cyrus is fretting over Therion missing an appointment or anything. The professor’s so mired in old tomes and classwork he left off which edition of _Osterra Divinity: Sacred & Sealed Flames _he wants, and Therion can't very well steal every edition and expect no one to notice.

So here Therion is, skulking around the ritzy part of Atlasdam and hoping to avoid any patrolling city watchmen.

As a Professor of the Royal Academy of Atlasdam, Cyrus has his own private rooms somewhere in the city, near the academy for convenience. Theoretically speaking. Therion has never actually seen Cyrus anywhere in Atlasdam that isn’t the library or the academy.

Therion checks the library first. Cyrus is scholar first and professor second, even if he does pride himself on the title.

The library is well and closed for the night, curtains drawn over the windows and door firmly locked. A bit of snooping reveals a dim light in an upstairs window facing away from the street.

If that's not Cyrus, Therion will eat his boots.

The lock barely takes a moment. He slips in and reengages the lock from the inside before heading slowly for the stairs. The library interior is pitch black and, while Therion’s visited enough for a general feel of the layout, he's not completely confident he won't walk face first into a wall. With a little blind groping, he finds the banister and the first step.

Therion keeps his steps light. Cyrus is notoriously unflappable, only ever mildly surprised and never startled, and it became something of a game when the eight of them traveled together to try and startle Cyrus. Therion's also naturally a bit of a jerk and is pretty sure Cyrus won't actually set him on fire in a library.

Therion pauses at the top of the stairs. It takes a minute to reorient in the dark and head in the vaguely right direction. Eventually, he finds the edge of the lamplight and follows it to its source.

The oil lantern sits near the edge of a large table in the only spot clear of books and paper. An inkwell weighs down a stack of notes written in code, chicken scratch, or both.

Cyrus lies face first in an open book, hand and quill resting on a half-filled sheet of parchment.

Therion slowly creeps to Cyrus’s side and brushes his hair away from his face. No reaction from Cyrus. Not even the faintest of twitches. Dark circles sagged below his eyes, speaking of too many late nights in a row.

“Looks like I'll have to hang around a bit before you're ready to answer my question, huh,” Therion says, letting Cyrus’s hair fall back into place.

Therion tears off a blank strip of parchment and jotted down a quick note for Therese.

_Taking the Prof. to get some sleep. If needed, find us at the inn across the square from the tavern._

He signs it with his fanciest T.

Therion carefully pulls Cyrus out of the book, and leans him against the chair while Therion tucks the note in between the pages.

With a sigh, Therion hefts Cyrus over his shoulder and headed for the stairs.

It's going to be a long walk back to the inn.


End file.
